Manchester City have begun work on a new £200million training complex they believe will be the best in the world.

City will move to the new training ground, adjacent to the Etihad Stadium, in pre-season ahead of the 2014-15 campaign.

The new complex, on an 80-acre site, will feature 16 pitches, a 7,000-capacity mini-stadium and a state-of-the-art training facility including an injury and rehab centre.

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City hope their new youth academy, with provision for 400 youngsters, will also see them become the best in the world at producing their own players, rivalling the likes of Barcelona.

The Premier League champions have also donated 5.5 acres of the site to Manchester City Council, on which a new sixth form college will be built as part of the ongoing drive to help regenerate East Manchester.

Patrick Vieira, City's football develpoment executive, said: "The club are creating something fantastic.

"Before designing the facilities, they went to the football world, basketball world and the NFL world, so a lot of hard work has been done.

"That's why I believe it is the best project around in all sports, because people have been around the world, trying to capture the very best in sport and bring it here."

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New City chief executive, Ferran Soriano, said: "The development of young and home-grown players is central to our strategy of creating both a winning team and a sustainable football club."

The project, on derelict former industrial land, will be known as the Etihad Campus and will also feature lesiure facilities including a swimming pool, towards which City have donated £3million for its construction.

City have already spent around £50m on making the former toxic site safe for construction, with the overall cost of the development estimated to reach the £200m mark once it is finished.